Building the Flexible Firm

How to Remain Competitive

Henk W. Volberda

Building the Flexible Firm

How to Remain Competitive

Henk W. Volberda

Description

How do firms cope with changing environments? Is flexibility really the solution? Based on an Igor Ansoff Award winning study, Building the Flexible Firm shows how flexibility has become the new strategic challenge for contemporary firms. Offering a wealth of insights and based on extensive interviews with practitioners, Henk Volberda provides a strategic framework which explains what types of flexibility are effective under different organizational conditions and environmental characteristics. He also demonstrates an integrated method for diagnosing a firm's flexibility and for guiding the transition to greater flexibility and responsiveness.

Building the Flexible Firm

How to Remain Competitive

Henk W. Volberda

Table of Contents

Foreword, Igor Ansoff and Simon HuyzerPreface1. Introduction2. A Revision of Management and Organization3. Flexibility, the Hallmark of Postmodern Organization4. Grasping the Paradox of Flexibility5. The Managerial Task: Creating Flexible Capabilities6. The Organization Design Task: Reducing Organizational Barriers7. Resolving the Paradox: Flexibility under Various Levels of Competition8. Towards the Flexible Form9. How to Improve the Firm's Flexibility: Tools and Techniques10. Discovering Flexible Corporations of the Future: Managerial and Theoretical ImplicationsReferencesAppendices

Building the Flexible Firm

How to Remain Competitive

Henk W. Volberda

Author Information

Henk W. Volberda is Professor of Strategic Management at the Rotterdam School of Management.

Building the Flexible Firm

How to Remain Competitive

Henk W. Volberda

Reviews and Awards

"

"It fills an important gap in our understanding of how organizational flexibility can be used as a basis of competitive advantage in today's rapidly changing competitive landscape.[...] A masterful discussion of the strategic nature of organizational flexibility.[...] Building the Flexible Firm is a thorough, interesting and well-written discussion of management theory combined with pertinent business examples.[...] Required reading for all management researchers and top management practitioners."--Academy of Management Executive